St. Ann PC warns against road encroachments

MONTEGO BAY — The St. Ann Parish Council will be taking action against persons who encroach on its roads, by dumping building materials and leaving them for some time.

Secretary/Manager of the Council, Clinton Gordon, told the monthly meeting on Thursday July 14, 2011 that action would be taken under the Parochial Roads Act.

“These materials – sand, gravel, marl and building blocks – are most times left in the drain channels, and whenever there is rainfall the water is diverted from the natural drainage and ends up destroying the road,” he explained.

Mr. Gordon told JIS News that the result is twofold, because the materials not only destroy the roads, but also reduces the surface.

“So quite often, instead of having a road with two lanes, we end up with a single lane, because people deposit materials on the roadway and they stay there for a long time,” he stated.

He said the Council has accepted that there are some areas where persons do not have the space to keep building materials on their premises. These persons would be given a timeframe in which to have it removed in short order.

“The law allows the Superintendent of Roads and Works to remove the material from the roadway and/or serve a notice on the person to whom the material belongs, and take the matter before the court,” Mr. Gordon said, noting that persons could be fined for breaching the Road Traffic Act and for encroachment.

He is encouraging persons doing constructions, to ensure that their building materials are properly deposited.

“If you have to do construction and you do not have the space to put your building materials, or the truck delivering the material cannot get onto your premises, then ensure that, in a short space of time (under a week), you move it on to your premises, otherwise you could lose what you have, as well as be taken before the court,” he cautioned.

By ALDEEN CAMPBELL, JIS Reporter